Dennis Hollingsworth

Leverkusen

It was a nice surprise this summer to be included in a nicely articulated group show at Museum Morsbroich Leverkusen. And it especially nice to be in such great company as a personal friend, Pia Fries... not the least of which twenty seven very excellent painters from all over the world. Thanks to Andre Buchmann, my gallery and dealer in Cologne for introducing my work in Europe.

Click on the extended entry for the curatorial essay...

New abstract painting
painting abstract now
Abstraction in new painting

It seems that the duality between abstraction and figuration - which was so important during all the 20th century - no longer holds.
?However, I think that you can use abstract means of getting at a very broad and complex discourse and dealing with thematic issues. And I think, it is still a functional and useful tool, but more of a tool at this point than an end product or a final result.?

This statement of a contemporary New York painter (Jonathan Lasker) gives expression to the old and new interest in abstract painting as an artistic language. Especially during the boom of media-art, fotografie and contextual art in the nineties painting - in particular abstract painting - seemed to be of minor concern in the range of arts.
In comprehensive shows like the both last documentas f.ex. painting was only marginal presented, and what was shown, were mostly figurative concepts.
In fact, the re-arousing interest in painting at the beginning of the new millenium manifests itself in extensive overviews-shows like f.ex. ?Painting on the move? (Basel 2002) , but especially there was obviously missing the very young generation, which is dealing with abstract painterly concepts. Also current presentations and actual publications like ?DeutscheMalereizweitausendunddrei? (Frankfurt, 2003) or ?Vitamin P. New perspectives in painting? (2002) put other main emphasis.

This show, which will take place in Museum Morsbroich Leverkusen in summer 2003 puts the focus on the different manifestations of todays abstraction and its
actual relevance. It shows current painterly positions, which emerge out of the fundamentals of minimal and conceptual painting, and bring in sovereignly new, unused solutions full of emotionality, artistic energy and intellectual intensity.
It also integrates painterly concepts, where the abstraction shows up nearly like a ?fragment?, or is building the painterly landscape on the canvas in combination with figurative elements and connects in this way to the project of modernism and bring forth fresh images, which could be felt as equivalent values to our time.
From the total view of the show in Leverkusen results an overall picture, which shows abstraction as an open and complex instrument, whose relevance in the context of all the other artforms is unbroken and at which starts especially today new fascination.
The show is taking place at Museum Morsbroich Leverkusen from June 1th until
until September 28th 2003.
A catalogue will be published, the show is curated by Ute Riese.
Participating artists:

Fiona Rae
Jonathan Lasker
Fabian Marcaccio
Franz Ackermann
Philip Taaffe
Sarah Morris
Juan Usl?
Olav Christopher Jenssen
Robert Zandvliet
Bernard Frize
Daniel Richter
Lori Hersberger
Katharina Grosse
Jacqueline Humphries
Michael Burges
Christoph Wedding
Michael Stubbs
Dennis Hollingsworth
Frank Nitsche
Stefan Hirsig
Pia Fries
DJ Simpson
Sergej Jensen
Ross Bleckner
David Reed
Stephan Jung
Gary Hume
Peter Zimmermann